Reviewed by Wendy Lipke
This hard covered 290 x 230 mm 44-page book has been created by Eleri Harris, award winning cartoonist, journalist, editor and feminist and history tour guide. Her non-fictional comics have found their way across the world. Created as a children’s book, it highlights issues such as inclusivity, equality and accessibility.
To some the title of this book and the way the information is presented may seem trivial when discovering that this book is about history and Australia’s first parliament house. However, it must be remembered that this is a children’s book, and these perceived reactions would be what appeals to young people.
Inside the front and back covers, on double page spreads, are maps of Australia’s both houses of parliament with their appropriate colours. Between these pages is the story of the first two women parliamentarians. Because women had never been in this role before, they encountered several problems that would take time to overcome.
In the year 1943, Western Australian teacher, Dorothy Tangney, was elected as a Labor senator and Enid Muriel Lyons took her place in the House of Representatives for the United Australia Party. She was familiar with the old Parliament House because her husband had been one of Australia’s Prime Ministers.
A biography is provided of these women as well as a double page timeline from 1856 to 2013. This is accompanied with small irregular shaped blobs containing information and illustrations showing the gradual inclusion of women into our political system plus facilities for them. The last page of this book provides information about the cartoon author.
Both of these female politicians felt isolated from the men who thought this situation would be short lived. The women worked very hard and achieved much during their time in parliament, but one issue caused concern. The only toilets in Parliament House were labelled for men. Other women workers, secretaries, cleaners, telephonists, had been forced to find facilities outside of this building.
Eventually the women politicians came up with the idea of placing their shoes outside the door of the men’s toilets whenever they were inside. This situation would last for over thirty years, until in 1974 a woman’s toilet was created by hiding the urinal in a box.
A lot of material in this book is educational yet the author has chosen to draw attention to the problem of toilets. This is a well-presented humorous book, suitable for children, about some of Australia’s parliamentary history and the acceptance of women into the work force and places of power.
A Loo of One’s Own
(2025)
by Eleri Harris
Allen & Unwin
ISBN:978-1-76118-183-2
$26.99; 44pp.